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WE HAVE MANY BEAUTIFUL TRADITIONS; FAMILY VIOLENCE IS NOT ONE OF THEM.

This qualitative research examined the actions taken by women who suffer violence, the answers they found in their search for help, the obstacles they encountered, and the availability and quality of services. A total of 900 people were interviewed in 10 Latin American countries. Factors that influence women to get help are support from close persons, favorable economic or material conditions, good information,n and existence of appropriate services that respond to women’s needs and expectations. Among the most important elements that inhibit the search for help are inadequate institutional responses. If victims are treated in an insensitive manner, interactions with service providers can magnify their feelings of powerlessness, shame, and guilt.

This article explores the types of violence and mental health effects suffered by battered women. Battering is conceptualized as a recurrent pattern of physical, psychological or sexual abuse that a man exerts against his wife, and which manifests itself as emotional states in the wife, such as fear and a sense of vulnerability. The authors review different models that have been proposed to explain the dynamics of this violence and also present the results of research being developed in this area. The authors also interviewed 4 female subjects (aged 29-35 years) who sought help regarding their experiences of violence. The transcripts from the participants’ audiotaped interviews were analyzed trying to construct some categories related with the types of violence experienced and their effects on mental health. The subjects' testimonies showed that physical violence was present in different actions, such as pushing, punching, and slapping. Women also mentioned sexual violence, particularly when they were forced to have sex after a battering episode. In the case of psychological violence, some of the most frequent types were threats, insults, and humiliations. Subjects also spoke regarding the mental health effects they suffered as a consequence of the violence they endured. ((c) 1998 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved)

The author presents the results of a study conducted with battered women in the state of Massachusetts regarding human rights violations by the state. The study consisted of 39 participants, 5% Latinas, from 10 of the 13 state family courts. The study found a consisted pattern of potential human rights violations by the state against the women and their children. Such violations included 1) granting or recommending parental rights to men who had used violence; 2) granting or recommending unsupervised visitation to men who had used violence; 3) failing to consider evidence of intimate partner violence in disputed child custody cases; 4) and failing to investigate allegations of child abuse in cases of disputed child custody.

An exploratory study was conducted to explore Hispanic adolescents’ definitions of dating violence and to examine factors that might impact those definitions. The study consisted of a survey administered to a predominantly Hispanic public high school in 1999. A total of 182 students participated and 94% reported being of Hispanic origin. 30% of the respondents defined dating violence in terms of physical or forced contact such as beating or striking a date. 16% of respondents believed that physical or verbal abuse was acceptable in the dating relationship. A large number of respondents reported a list of approved violence in instances of disobedience, private and public insults, and drunkenness, refusal of sex, infidelity, and self-defense. As expected, boys defined violence in more severe terms than girls. Girls were more likely to define dating violence in terms of mental abuse, verbal abuse, harassment, and screaming. According to the authors, an interesting finding suggests that boys and girls use a moral code to approve of dating violence based on certain circumstances. The authors recommend more in depth research exploring the cultural norms that may be important factors in defining dating violence and the differences among the different ethnicities that comprise Hispanics.

Investigated cultural differences and similarities in the options that a woman perceives, the help she seeks, and the nature and scope of violence she experiences in intimate relationship using a group discussion format. African American, Anglo-American, Asian American and Mexican American participants comprised 12 ethnic specific focus groups. Central themes discussed included intersection of gender and ethnicity, immigration as a challenge to family cultural history, the role of social institutions, family and friends, and the range of violent experiences and their outcomes, including psychological and economic consequences. Observations relevant to research, policy, and service provision are offered. (PsycLIT Database Copyright 1997, American Psychological Association, all rights reserved).

As part of survey of Los Angeles households, 1,243 Mexican Americans and 1,149 non-Hispanic whites were surveyed about their experiences of spousal violence. Questions to assess violence included both perpetration (whether they had been physically violent toward a partner) and victimization (whether they had been the victim of sexual assault by a partner). Over one-fifth (21.2%) of the respondents indicated that they had, at one or more times in their lives, hit or thrown things at their current or former spouse or partner. Spousal violence rates for Mexican Americans born in Mexico and non-Hispanic whites born in the United States were nearly equivalent (20.0% and 21.6%, respectively); rates were highest for Mexican-Americans born in the United States (30.9%). While overall rates of sexual assault were lower for Mexican-Americans, one-third of the most recent incidents reported by Mexico-born Mexican-American women involved the husband and approximate rape.